SRINAGAR, JULY 13: Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti has hailed the exemplary effort of the residents of Halmulla, Bijbehara and the adjoining areas who, amid trying circumstances, helped and evacuated the Amarnath Yatris injured in a road accident on Jammu-Srinagar highway today.

Pertinently, two persons, including a Kashmiri driver and an Amarnath pilgrim, died while 22 others sustained injuries when a vehicle they were travelling in met with an accident at Halmulla, Sangam near Bijbehara in district Anantnag this morning.

The Chief Minister while expressing grief and sorrow over the death of a local driver and a pilgrim in the accident, said keeping in with Kashmir’s glorious traditions of communal harmony and brotherhood, the locals of Bijbehara, who themselves were mourning the tragic deaths in recent law and order situation, ignored their personal grief and rushed to the accident spot to rescue the injured pilgrims and shift them to the hospitals.

“This is the uniqueness of Kashmir’s distinct and valued culture, we must all fight to protect,” Ms Mehbooba said and added that it has been seen over the years that while Kashmiris have themselves underwent countless tragedies, they have upheld the highest traditions of brotherhood and amity amid difficult times. “I salute my people for this humanitarianism and compassion and expect to see the same flourishing in future,” she said.